RP: YSS Kaiyō Mission 30: Sugoi Dekai

"What the fuck," Hoshi seethed at William, face pale despite its pink nature. "You just complicated her injury further. You're also more of a combatant than me, so it was strategic to have me hold her, not you. Um, Sif, let me see. Sure, it should help her deal with the pain, yeah." The little captain was scared seeing her crew dying in front of her, unarmored and helpless. She was mad and also scared that Isuke and Morgana weren't back yet, too. She was frustrated with their mission on several fronts and didn't want to take it out on anyone—just take the best path forward. She patted William's back as she jogged ahead, forging towards the onlookers that had formed at the end of the alley.

One of the restaurants that flanked the alley's end was getting a food delivery of some sort on a hovering crate cart and Hoshi pushed a plastic container of cabbages off of it, making room on the back end for her people.

"Here!" Hoshi called, dipping her head underneath the steering wheel to check out the wiring a bit. She didn't need to hotwire it to turn it on as the keys had been left in it, but she did want to deregulate any limiter. She worked on doing so, shirtless as she was, before getting into the seat. With everyone on, she gave a honk of the horn and the comical beeps did nothing to disperse the crowd, so she called out loudly for them to move and many did, abiding by the sharp edge to the woman's voice more than her exact words. The little hover car sped off into the crowd and then gained altitude, flying just a head above the tallest among the throngs of people below for the time being.

Aiko regarded the felled ID-SOL for some time after he stopped moving, examining his cybernetic-encrusted body to see if he had any more tricks up his sleeve. She didn't quite trust that he'd stay down even as she lowered her pistol and relaxed her fighting stance. For now, Aiko stopped worrying about whether the seemingly unstoppable enemy guard would bother them. The Kaiyō's crew would hopefully be long gone by the time his body stirred again.

Still, they were far from home free. With Molli fading fast and a couple others banged up, the princess didn't want to linger any longer than they needed to. So Aiko hopped onto the bed of Hoshi's commandeered hover truck after making sure William had placed their wounded soldier safely in its cabin and tucked in for the ride, sitting on the little cargo bed's edge just behind the driver side cabin so that she could cover any threats from the front as they sped along.

"There is a chance more security will intercept us at the elevator that leads to our shuttle bay," Aiko transmitted telepathically from her spot, her dyed purple hair whipping behind her like a long streamer flag attached to the truck's cabin as the overpacked vehicle tore menacingly over Urtullan's pedestrians. "Our transport out should still be secure, however. One last push. Ganbatte!"

To say she was unnerved at Molli's cries was putting it lightly. Whatever soldier programming she had, it didn't prevent her from empathetically wincing, and that was before she started to imagine how Molli's arm would look like, lacking the regenerative features of a neko. At the very least, Sif was able to scrounge up some aid to help. She'd have to keep the kit close. It was a simple thing to lock the pouch onto her belt. They may still need things from it, and while she wished she could have looked some more, the situation wasn't going to give them the luxury of time.

She followed the captain, undoing the knots on Molli's makeshift sling so Sif could wear it as a poncho to hide the assault rifle she picked up from the civilians to avoid any more panic. Though that might help block the way for any pursuers, but it would just as easily lead security to them. She hopped on the back, taking a corner at the rear to cover their backs as everyone hopped on.

Her shoulder was still a little sore, and there was a tingling in her digits, but she was sure she could fire straight.

It was a quick ride made arduous and long by their precious, fading cargo. The storefronts changed from the sandstone that spoke of centuries past into the newer, more tawdry shops that they had been greeted with when entering the multi-domed complex. Hoshi pulled her pistol out when she saw the escalators and steadied the barrel on the side view mirror of the little truck. The vehicle swept to the right as it flew between each escalator. At their arrival a couple distant figures seemed to prepare themselves, darting towards them. The line for security check-in from the shuttle bay had been cleared and a few additional security seemed to alert to them as well and run forward, pulling at their sidearms.

There had been no more NMX, but at least one of these guards was another ID-SOL. Hoshi scrutinized where the security were dispersing from, quite sure she had seen an Advanced Mishhuvurthyar's form amongst the distant figures just before the monster slunk away into the shadows. A round jumped off of the hood of the car as the Urtullan's security opened fire. Hackles raised in suspicion, Hoshi returned fire, watching one man fall and she decidedly planned to path the cargo truck towards where he had stood once they were further along on the platform above the escalators.

Sif's attention was initially focused behind them, waiting to see if they'd be pursued by vehicles, but danger was focused more to their front. From her corner, she darted her eyes around for people in uniform, and caught the assembling force blocking their way up ahead. In her rush before, she hadn't thought to pick up additional magazines from the fallen, so she had to make the shots count. Easier said than done on a moving vehicle being shot at.

She revealed the AR from underneath Molli's poncho and took a breath as she arose, taking a wide, semi-crouched stance, one foot firmly planted on the back corner behind the passenger seat, and the other more forwards towards the center, leaning forwards slightly to keep her balance as she leveled her stolen gun at the guards straight ahead. "Face-to-face with death itself," she mumbled under her breath as she squeezed the trigger, releasing a small burst of bullets aimed towards the closest guard to the one Hoshi had just dropped. No called shots, just straight to center mass. Headshots may have been the fastest way to get rid of them, but an unfamiliar gun with just one magazine of ammo meant very low likelihood of actually landing shots like that.

Even if it didn't end up taking them out of the fight permanently, a bigger opening in their line to push through would more than suffice for them. She wouldn't wait to confirm the hits before Sif shot towards another, and then another, and then another. All the while mumbling under her breath a warrior's mantra she had adopted from one of the novels lent to her by a friend.

Aiko's keen watch spotted the new hostiles just as soon as Hoshi and Sif had.

The requisitioned NMX pistol she'd grabbed way back at the mecha engineering facility had grown accustomed in her grip, and the princess aimed it now with as much readiness as she would her own Nekovalkyrja Service Pistol. Immediately, she loosed a few shots over the truck cabin's driver side roof with a balanced posture. She'd stood up to her feet upon spying the fading form of an Advanced Type Mishhu, suddenly invigorated with a second wind that sharpened her still energized combat mindset, taking a wide stance with her knees bent a little like she was riding her hoverboard. The princess' leading left hand was grasped firmly through the top back corner of the truck's window frame to keep her from flying away while she snapped off blasts from the heavy Mishhu pistol held a few inches beneath her jawline.

Speeding through Urtullan's crowds of tourists and traders and the myriad of independent ruffians who called it home had been a concerning experience from the start. Now Hoshi's spirited tactical driving had brought them careening toward smaller and smaller pathways and an increasing number of solid surfaces that would stop their escape more quickly and violently than even a platoon of armed guards could. But there was nothing to do but to keep firing and clear a path to the docking bay where the Kaiyō's away team could hurry aboard their shuttle and jet away to the safety of outer space.

So Aiko kept shooting, ready to hop off the hovering kei truck and run toward freedom—and brawl her way there if need be.

With the area Hoshi had been aiming to drive through even more clear after Sif's medial shots, she swung the kei truck into a better position, plunging through the gap in the line. Both of the Nekovalkyrja on the back of the truck had taken up stances that allowed them to stay on during the maneuvers. With her arm tucked around the cab's frame, Aiko was able to use her other to shoot down who they passed. Pleasingly, she hit the ID-SOL but didn't get the chance to see the outcome as their vehicle shot them ever forward. The passageways usually choked with people were clear, now, save for the security and the odd bystander that hadn't gotten the memo to clear out. The security seemed to follow them and were semi-prepared even within the shuttle bay, but once the truck entered the lofty hangar, a Skylyte shuttle (which was no more than a Tanuki shuttle with the Hinomaru and Star Army IRN and other indicators removed) slid open its port side door. 30mm gattling cannons swung out wildly then all at once settled into place, shooting strategically behind the Kei truck as it dove towards the shuttle.

"Everyone in!" Hoshi called from the cab, opting to idle the truck and not spend any wasted time in it. As she got out, she nodded to William and then tilted her head towards the passenger side of the cab. She knew the Nepleslian man would want to hoist their wounded comrade—and would perhaps be better suited to it than Hoshi in this moment, as well. She herself ducked out of habit, not willing to become the gattling gun's next victim, as she flew in through open door of the shuttle. Taking up residence in the gunner's seat, she spoke towards the cockpit, "Asuka, I got the guns for you. Concentrate on flying us out of this desert paradise from here on!"

"Enjoy your vacation?" the bridge bunny's voice had the cool, even tone of sarcasm that spoke of the hours of placid waiting Asuka had done in the shuttle while the crew had been between near-constant shootouts, wild fleeing, and—as the mission objective would suggest—investigating the mecha the Mishhuvurthyar were having the Urtullans build. The crew was haggard from it all, near-dead in Molli's case, but they had scrutinized the threat brewing on this contradictory planet better than any other Star Army member had done thus far. Now, under gunfire and still in the enemy's den, it was time to make their final escape.

When the truck came to a stop by the shuttle, Sif quickly hopped off and took position behind the truck, aiming down range. The cannons may be covering them, but she had to make sure their flanks were clear. "Have you guys covered," she'd say, keeping an eye out for guards that may be outside the cannons' field of fire. She would scramble up the shuttle once everyone was in, sending one or two bursts against the enemy trying to get around the cone of death before the rifle announced the last of its ammunition with a click click.

At which point, she pulled out the .45 pistol in her pocket and hopped aboard the shuttle, taking a spot at the entrance to fire upon any guard suicidal enough to even come close.

The chaotic drive through a hail of bullets from all directions kept Molli awake and alert, but only just. The tourniquets had stopped the worst of the bleeding, but Molli's clothes were still soaked with fresh blood, and the agony of their applications made the young soldier wish she'd passed out. Every sharp turn, every bump in the road, every movement from William sent jolts of pain through Molli's shoulder, which cascaded down her body like a stone landing in a lake, The pistol she'd looted fell from Molli's hand, onto the truck's floorboard, and she lay in William's arm limply, eyes wrenched shut and teeth grit tight.

When they reached their destination, Molli wasn't in any shape to move, so it was up to William to hoist her to safety. Wherever he'd deigned to set her down was where Molli finally passed out once the stress became too much for her body to bear.

William returned the nod and moved to the truck's cab, extracting the wounded Molli as gingerly as he was able. Though with the end in sight he quickly rushed onto the shuttle and and strapped Molli in. "We are set back here." He informed Hoshi and Asuka.

At Asuka's comment, William snorted. "Next time, I pick the destination..." he remarked dryly, pulling his stolen pistol and moving next to the door gunner position.